"Just ordinary?"
On the deck, Lafitte’s smile instantly froze.
Burgess and the others were completely dumbfounded as well.
When Blackbeard had proposed using his status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea to accompany Admiral Glutton Lucas to Impel Down and investigate the situation there, they had been waiting with great anticipation.
They had been waiting for Blackbeard to return with plenty of good news.
Especially Lafitte, known as the Demon Sheriff.
All along, he had regarded his own intelligence as something capable of surpassing even Marine Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the "Strategist."
In his eyes, going to the sixth level of Impel Down to find powerful companions for the future was an absolutely brilliant move.
However, after waiting for so long, Blackbeard had come back and casually told them that they were merely "ordinary."
If even the vicious criminals imprisoned on the sixth level of Impel Down were only ordinary in his eyes, then what did that make those present who did not even qualify to enter the sixth level?
Were they not even worth being called ordinary?
"Heh heh, Captain, you really know how to joke. But that joke isn’t very funny. Going into the sixth level of Impel Down to select powerful members was the best plan you yourself agreed to. Those are some of the most vicious pirates on the sea. Some of them were even terrifying figures during the old era. How could they possibly be ordinary?"
Lafitte slowly recovered himself and forced a smile onto his face before speaking again.
Burgess and the others beside him remained silent, but their faces were equally filled with anticipation.
They knew very well that if even those prisoners were merely "ordinary," then there was no way they could stay on the ship without feeling ashamed.
They might not even know where they could possibly find new members.
Blackbeard’s face was filled with bitterness. Recalling everything that had happened yesterday, he could only smile helplessly.
"No, they aren’t really ordinary."
"It’s just that, in front of the fourth Marine Admiral, Glutton Lucas, they are far too ordinary."
"Yesterday, that Marine Admiral was rushing to clock out on time. He used Conqueror’s Haki to suppress the entire sixth level of Impel Down. Judging by the timing, those prisoners are probably still unconscious right now."
"So tell me, even if we really manage to gather enough people from the sixth level in the future, wouldn’t we still be far too ordinary when facing this fourth Marine Admiral?"
Everyone present was instantly dumbfounded.
At that moment, they finally understood why their great captain had hidden himself in a corner aboard the Marine warship and acted like a complete nobody.
If he hadn’t made himself invisible, he probably would have actually been blasted into invisibility.
Rushing to clock out on time and suppressing even the sixth level of Impel Down...
If they hadn’t heard it directly from someone who had witnessed it, who would believe such a thing was real?
"Blackbeard, I hope that next time we meet, you’ll do your best to increase your bounty. Perhaps we’ll have another opportunity to cooperate."
Lucas leaped onto the shore. He raised the wine gourd in his hand and smiled before heading toward the Marine Headquarters Building.
Blackbeard’s face instantly turned ashen.
He had never expected to find himself on Lucas’s bounty list again so soon.
Facing an Admiral who constantly talked about bounties, Blackbeard genuinely began to wonder whether the way this newly appointed Marine Admiral looked at people was measured entirely in strings of Berries.
Could he have seen through my intentions?
Blackbeard recalled the benevolent look in Lucas’s eyes.
That feeling was almost identical to the way he himself had stared at Thatch back when Thatch possessed the Dark-Dark Fruit.
It was downright chilling.
Meanwhile, inside the conference hall of Marine Headquarters...
Dozens of Marine officers had already assembled.
Apart from the familiar faces who regularly attended such meetings, numerous commanders from the various Marine branches had also been summoned here.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you said that Marine Headquarters is going to face two Four Emperors at the same time? Isn’t that far too dangerous?"
Among the crowd, Vice Admiral Jimmyr, commander of G-2, was the first to voice his concern.
Within the Marines, Admirals were regarded as the strongest combat power, followed closely by Admiral Candidates, who were responsible for monitoring the movements of the Four Emperors.
After them came the commanders of the various Marine branches.
To become the commander of a Marine branch in the dangerous New World, each one could be considered an outstanding Vice Admiral. Their strength was enough to stand on their own anywhere on the sea; otherwise, they would never have been entrusted with guarding an entire region.
Their overall strength was even somewhat greater than that of ordinary Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals.
What Jimmyr had never expected, however, was for Marine Headquarters to suddenly issue an emergency mobilization order, requiring them to abandon their posts at their respective branches and rush to Marine Headquarters.
For a moment, the branch commanders present also looked anxiously toward Sengoku.
"Jimmyr, I understand your concerns. But Marine Headquarters has no other choice. Fire Fist Ace must be publicly executed. Whitebeard’s declaration of war is inevitable, and Drought Jack absolutely cannot be released. And even if we did release him, given Kaido’s personality, he would undoubtedly take advantage of the chaos."
Sengoku’s voice was solemn.
When he had called this meeting, he had already considered everything that might happen.
He also knew exactly how difficult it would be to deal with two Four Emperors at once.
It would be no exaggeration to say that Marine Headquarters was being placed directly over a raging fire.
Faced with this answer, the branch commanders’ expressions stiffened, and none of them could find a response.
As Marine officers, they knew very well that among the Four Emperors, Kaido of the Beasts was the one with perhaps the least regard for morals or limits.
"All right, Jimmyr. There’s no need for you to worry too much. Since Sengoku has made this decision, I imagine he already has a general strategy in place."
Tsuru spoke at the appropriate moment.
"Don’t forget, Fleet Admiral Sengoku is known as the Marine strategist."
Her words instantly broke the oppressive atmosphere in the room.
The eyes of many present lit up.
After all, Sengoku had earned his reputation as the Marine strategist through countless battles and campaigns.
Feeling the gazes directed toward him from all sides, Sengoku pondered briefly before deciding not to keep them in suspense any longer.
With Marine Headquarters facing two Four Emperors at once, the first thing he needed to do was obviously stabilize the morale of the troops.
"Don’t worry. For Marine Headquarters, the greatest weakness in simultaneously confronting two Four Emperors is our shortage of combat power."
"This time, in addition to issuing a summons to the Seven Warlords of the Sea and making those fellows contribute some of their strength, I also intend to search the sea for some special combat power. Hopefully, they can help make up for the shortfall in Marine Headquarters’ forces."
"Search the sea for special combat power?"
Jimmyr and the others were stunned.
Even Tsuru looked somewhat surprised.
None of them had expected Sengoku to propose such a bold plan.
Beside them, Doll, the commander of the G-14 Branch and one of the few female Vice Admirals in Marine Headquarters, was the first to lose patience.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, can we really find such special combat power? Or does Fleet Admiral Sengoku already have a target in mind?"
Everyone instantly turned their eyes toward Sengoku.
In their view, finding ordinary reinforcements might still be possible.
But finding a force capable of confronting a Four Emperor?
Could something like that really exist?
However, before Sengoku could answer, a light, carefree voice came from outside the door.
"I think I really do have a target!"
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